Life your FBV cable!

[Afterglow-GTB]

A little anecdote for a Friday afternoon that could save you a costly repair.

 

At a recent rehearsal using the new FBV3 with HD Pro X (very disappointed with the FBV3 but that's another story), half way through the FBV goes dark. No display, no lights, no function. The Pod seems fine so, assuming the new kit has broken, I swear a bit and carry on thinking it fortunate it was a rehearsal and not a gig.

 

However, when I got home, I plugged my old Longboard with another cable and that doesn't work either.

 

Basically, the cat5 cable that I've been using for years had failed causing a short between the power conductors which blew the FBV port on the Pro X. The Pod is out of warranty so I had to pay for the fix - a new main board at the UK's only service centre. So a $10 cable failure cost me a $350 repair.

 

So my suggestion is that you decide what life to apply to your cat5 cable, be it age or a number of gigs, and trash it when it's done. Also, take care not to let the cable be crushed under flight cases or staging. Don't wait for it to fail and potentially damage your Pod! 

 

Michael.

 

[fflbrgst]

Expensive repair.  I don't know why Line 6 never came up with better pedal solution than the flimsy Cat5 jacks/plugs and stiff cables.

[BillBee]

Its not just L6 D-Tech IIRC uses the same for the 1101 and Control 2. I would love a wireless FBV but fear potential connection problems. 

[treyrhodes27]

http://line6.com/support/topic/21969-have-an-fbv-buy-this/